I wonder if Ashley Giles had an invitation to the Queen’s Funeral service. (Any one remember?)
The King of Spain!
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“I do not know who this Ashley Giles is but I can assure him that I am the King of Spain”
With Gilo celebrating his benefit year in 2004 having belatedly been accepted as an England spin bowler, a load of merch emblazoned with the legend ‘The King of Spin’ was ordered to prove it. But when a print error led to a batch of mugs coming back with ‘Spain’ in place of ‘Spin’, the old ‘Wheelie Bin’ jibes, with their hints of haplessness, came flooding back. However, Giles rather brilliantly embraced it, turning a messy episode into an enduring nickname. The only person evidently unamused was a certain Juan Carlos of Madrid: “I do not know who this Ashley Giles is,” the monarch announced, “but I can assure him that I am the King of Spain.”
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England will play their first match in Pakistan for 17yrs later on today, and Moeen will captain as Butler is injured.
Symbolic in many ways, might be quite a welcome.
Bruce
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Australia play India in a T20 game tonight, having stayed up till 2am the morning to watch the Queens funeral not sure I’ll last (or even see any of it) it starts a 11.30pm here.
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A belated return to Pakistan. It is welcomed, but whether the England team is a match for the occasion is another matter.
Three more reason to welcome the game.
- David Gower is a commentator on sky, with Farbrace for TMS
- Moeen Ali is captain
- Alex Hales is back in the team
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Australia wins first T20 against India by 4 wickets.
A decent win too, with Hales playing a restrained innings, on what was a relatively low & slow track. It’s the first time I’ve seen Brook bat with confidence and pay proper shots at times. This said, it didn’t look the biggest of grounds, especially straight.
Interesting that Gower & Butcher were commentating (plus the former Pakistan players), as I thought Gower had dis-connected from Sky, having been displaced alongside Botham.
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I am with you re Brook, I haven’t really seen him much before. Looked very classy; one lofted straight drive was the shot of the game. Duckett however appeared to have one shot, albeit in conventional and reverse variations.
Bruce
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Ah , he’s had gigs in Pakistan, Bangladesh and other parts of the world. He’s part of the host broadcaster’s team .
Given the amount of cricket Sky are showing , I think I would be very pleased to see him back .
Botham belongs with Pietersen in broadcasters I really want to see…
… the back of
Ian
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KP makes me turn it off, or at least turn the sound off. I had forgotten until a couple of days ago his nickname was Fig Jam.
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Saw that, looked like a serious run chase.
Agree with you 100% regarding KP. Pity he never followed Richie Benaud’s advice and let the picture do the talking.
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I watched some of the women’s ODI Eng v India and the former came a distant 2nd.
The contrast in batting ability and technique across the top orders of the teams was very marked. It seems the Aussie & India ladies learn to play with classical techniques as foundations but several in the England side play more by eye, and when the latter goes awry, it ain’t pretty.
Watching Harmanpreet bat is a real joy, in that she generally plays classical shots with wonderful timing…although she did get fed a lot of rubbish bowling at times today.
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Dahani has an interesting action: there seems to be a straightening of his arm. Not the 15 degrees the law allows, but enough to add an extra yard of pace. Seen from behind it looks obvious, but viewed from the side it’s not noticeable.
In the past this sort of thing has been controversial, with a slight whiff of racism. Thankfully, a better understanding of biomechanics and slo-mo video analysis has dispelled such allegations.
Unless you are one of six or seven test grounds, this is a death nail and complete bo*locks.
England lost to Pakistan in the 2nd T20. When you score 199 batting first (as England did), you expect to pick up a wicket or 2 but key missed chances meant the less-able Pakistan middle order never got to the stumps. The lesson is clear, you need to get Babar and/or Rizwan early!
Things weren’t helped by England’s bowling de-railing at times.
10 wicket win is pretty impressive.
It was painful listening. Thought England had plenty.
Aussies take on India tonight in the 2nd T20.
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